Anna Elise Sherman

Anna Elise Sherman, 36. passed away unexpectedly on October 20th in Oakland, CA. Born in Las Vegas and raised in St Paul MN, Anna was a deeply loved big sister, daughter, niece, cousin, and friend.

Brilliant, funny, and quirky, Anna had a huge heart, even as a small child. She especially loved and was protective of her siblings. She was kind to everyone she met, including all animals. She adored her cats and volunteered at the St. Paul Animal Humane Society so she could walk and love up the dogs there.

In addition to her big heart, Anna also possessed a powerful intellect. She was naturally curious and loved learning. She graduated with honors from Como Park High School, Hamline University in St. Paul, and the University of California, Berkeley Law School.

Fueled by a lifelong love of learning, travel, and the outdoors, which was instilled by family trips to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA), Anna dedicated her career to addressing the climate crisis.

After college, she worked for the State of Minnesota and CenterPoint Energy to deepen her knowledge of legislation and regulations that support clean energy. She was a self-confessed policy nerd and loved learning how strong policies could translate into real solutions to climate change.

Those experiences propelled her to want to have a more direct impact on the development of clean energy, so she decided to apply to law school. In typical Anna fashion, she took an extremely disciplined approach to studying for the LSAT, achieving a perfect score -- which in turn provided her an entré to elite law schools. She chose Berkeley School of Law in California, graduating with honors. After law school, she practiced law at a prestigious San Francisco law firm with a focus on supporting the development of large-scale clean energy projects.

Anna applied the same discipline to other facets of her life as well. She was an avid runner who trained and ran in marathons, including Grandma's marathon in Duluth MN.

Anna is survived and missed by mother Carla Solberg Sherman, father Paul Sherman, bonus mom Susan Stokes, siblings Nolen Sherman, Minda Elwood (Ryan), Franz Sherman, and Bella Sonnek (Simon), as well as many cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 on January 16, 2026 at Immanuel Lutheran Church,104 Snelling Ave St Paul, MN 55105.

The family suggests memorials in Anna's name to:

Friends of Oakland Animal Services (https://friendsofoas.org/), who lovingly cared for her cats at her passing and helped get them back to Minnesota to live with family here (https://www.oaklandanimalservices.org/);

Girls on the Run Minnesota (https://www.gotrmn.org/);

Berkeley Law Opportunity Scholarship Program Fund: (https://give.berkeley.edu/funddrive/84?ac=130053);

A mental health organization of your choice